The report looks at the most active periods of fishway research since 1938 as background for a project to apply fundamental fluid and bio-mechanics to fishway design, and develop more cost effective fish passage facilities with primary application to small scale hydropower facilities. Also discussed are new concepts in fishway design, an assessment of fishway development and design, and an analysis of barriers to upstream migration. (ACR)

The systems engineering function for the Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant (GCEP) covers system requirements definition, analyses, verification, technical reviews, and other system efforts necessary to assure good balance of performance, safety, cost, and scheduling. The systems engineering function will support the design, installation, start-up, and operational phases of GCEP. The principal objectives of the systems engineering function are to: assure that the system requirements of the GCEP process are adequately specified and documented and that due consideration and emphasis are given to all aspects of the project; provide system analyses of the designs as they progress to assure that system requirements are met and that GCEP interfaces are compatible; assist in the definition of programs for the necessary and sufficient verification of GCEP systems; and integrate reliability, maintainability, logistics, safety, producibility, and other related specialties into a total system effort. This paper addresses the GCEP reliability, availability, maintainability, and dollars (RAM dollars) analyses which are the primary systems engineering tools for the development and implementation of trade-off studies. These studies are basic to reaching cost-effective project decisions. The steps necessary to achieve optimum cost-effective design are shown.

Diesel prices dip below the 4 dollar mark The U.S. average retail price for on-highway diesel fuel dipped below the 4-dollar mark for the first time since late January to $3.99 a gallon on Monday. That's down 1.3 cents from a week ago, based on the weekly price survey by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Diesel prices were highest in the New England region at 4.15 a gallon, down 2.3 cents from a week ago. Prices were lowest in the Gulf Coast region at 3.92 a gallon, down 2 cents. This

Demand-Side Management (DSM) program managers at utilities throughout the United States are faced with the challenge of achieving DSM goals while minimizing program costs in order to mitigate rate impacts. Many utilities are also allowed to earn a shareholder equity incentive based upon the cost effectiveness of DSM programs (shared savings type incentive). Program goals must be achieved in a market which is constantly evolving. This paper presents Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporations`s experience over the past 4 years implementing and managing a commercial industrial (C/I) efficient lighting rebate program which has been marketed as the Dollar $avers Lighting rebate program.

This document provides overall guidance to assist the NRC in preparing the types of cost estimates required by the Regulatory Analysis Guidelines and to assist in the assignment of priorities in resolving generic safety issues. The Handbook presents an overall cost model that allows the cost analyst to develop a chronological series of activities needed to implement a specific regulatory requirement throughout all applicable commercial LWR power plants and to identify the significant cost elements for each activity. References to available cost data are provided along with rules of thumb and cost factors to assist in evaluating each cost element. A suitable code-of-accounts data base is presented to assist in organizing and aggregating costs. Rudimentary cost analysis methods are described to allow the analyst to produce a constant-dollar, lifetime cost for the requirement. A step-by-step example cost estimate is included to demonstrate the overall use of the Handbook.

Sandia National Laboratories performs many expensive tests using inertial measurement units (IMUs)--systems that use accelerometers, gyroscopes, and other sensors to measure flight dynamics in three dimensions. For the purpose of this report, the metrics used to evaluate an IMU are cost, size, performance, resolution, upgradeability and testing. The cost of a precision IMU is very high and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thus the goals and results of this project are as follows: (1) Examine the data flow in an IMU and determine a generic IMU design. (2) Discuss a high cost IMU implementation and its theoretically achievable results. (3) Discuss design modifications that would save money for suited applications. (4) Design and implement a low cost IMU and discuss its theoretically achievable results. (5) Test the low cost IMU and compare theoretical results with empirical results. (6) Construct a more streamlined printed circuit board design reducing noise, increasing capabilities, and constructing a self-contained unit. Using these results, we can compare a high cost IMU versus a low cost IMU using the metrics from above. Further, we can examine and suggest situations where a low cost IMU could be used instead of a high cost IMU for saving cost, size, or both.

Energy Commercial Ethanol Turns Dross to Dollars for Rural Iowans Commercial Ethanol Turns Dross to Dollars for Rural Iowans September 28, 2011 - 3:23pm Addthis American farmers harvest 80 million acres of corn each autumn. The corn stover usually left on a hewn field can be processed into a renewable transportation fuel called bioethanol. | Image courtesy of POET American farmers harvest 80 million acres of corn each autumn. The corn stover usually left on a hewn field can be processed into

This chapter is focused on capital costs for conventional construction and environmental restoration and waste management projects and examines operating cost estimates to verify that all elements of the project have been considered and properly estimated.

A comparative economic analysis was made of four solidification processes for liquid high-level radioactive waste. Two processes produced borosilicate glass monoliths and two others produced metal matrix composites of lead and borosilicate glass beads and lead and supercalcine pellets. Within the uncertainties of the cost (1979 dollars) estimates, the cost of the four processes was about the same, with the major cost component being the cost of the primary building structure. Equipment costs and operating and maintenance costs formed only a small portion of the building structure costs for all processes.

An economic feasibility study was performed on the ''Muddy Water'' low-chlorine content palladium powder production process developed by Mound. The total capital investment and total operating costs (dollars per gram) were determined for production batch sizes of 1--10 kg in 1-kg increments. The report includes a brief description of the Muddy Water process, the process flow diagram, and material balances for the various production batch sizes. Two types of facilities were evaluated--one for production of new, ''virgin'' palladium powder, and one for recycling existing material. The total capital investment for virgin facilities ranged from $600,000 --$1.3 million for production batch sizes of 1--10 kg, respectively. The range for recycle facilities was $1--$2.3 million. The total operating cost for 100% acceptable powder production in the virgin facilities ranged from $23 per gram for a 1-kg production batch size to $8 per gram for a 10-kg batch size. Similarly for recycle facilities, the total operating cost ranged from $34 per gram to $5 per gram. The total operating cost versus product acceptability (ranging from 50%--100% acceptability) was also evaluated for both virgin and recycle facilities. Because production sizes studied vary widely and because scale-up factors are unknown for batch sizes greater than 1 kg, all costs are ''order-of-magnitude'' estimates. All costs reported are in 1987 dollars.

Ethanol from non-food sources - known as "cellulosic ethanol" - is a near-perfect transportation fuel: it is clean, domestic, abundant, and renewable, and it can potentially replace 30% of the petroleum consumed in the United States, but its relatively high cost has limited its market. That changed in 2012, when the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) demonstrated the technical advances needed to produce cellulosic ethanol at a minimum ethanol selling price of $2.15/gallon (in 2007 dollars). Through a multi-year research project involving private industry, NREL has proven that cellulosic ethanol can be cost competitive with other transportation fuels.

Although various legislation and regulations have been adopted to promote the use of alternative-fuel vehicles for curbing urban air pollution problems, there is a lack of systematic comparisons of emission control cost-effectiveness among various alternative-fuel vehicle types. In this paper, life-cycle emission reductions and life-cycle costs were estimated for passenger cars fueled with methanol, ethanol, liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, and electricity. Vehicle emission estimates included both exhaust and evaporative emissions for air pollutants of hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and air-toxic pollutants of benzene, formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, and acetaldehyde. Vehicle life-cycle cost estimates accounted for vehicle purchase prices, vehicle life, fuel costs, and vehicle maintenance costs. Emission control cost-effectiveness presented in dollars per ton of emission reduction was calculated for each alternative-fuel vehicle types from the estimated vehicle life-cycle emission reductions and costs. Among various alternative-fuel vehicle types, compressed natural gas vehicles are the most cost-effective vehicle type in controlling vehicle emissions. Dedicated methanol vehicles are the next most cost-effective vehicle type. The cost-effectiveness of electric vehicles depends on improvements in electric vehicle battery technology. With low-cost, high-performance batteries, electric vehicles are more cost-effective than methanol, ethanol, and liquified petroleum gas vehicles.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Book begins with this Overview section, which contains the high-level summary cost estimate, the cost profile, and the global construction schedule. The summary cost estimate shows the total US cost and the cost in terms of PHENIX construction funds for building the PHENIX detector. All costs in the WBS book are shown in FY 1993 dollars. Also shown are the institutional and foreign contributions, the level of pre-operations funding, and the cost of deferred items. Pie charts are presented at PHENIX WBS level 1 and 2 that show this information. The PHENIX construction funds are shown broken down to PHENIX WBS level 3 items per fiscal year, and the resulting profile is compared to the RHIC target profile. An accumulated difference of the two profiles is also shown. The PHENIX global construction schedule is presented at the end of the Overview section. Following the Overview are sections for each subsystem. Each subsystem section begins with a summary cost estimate, cost profile, and critical path. The total level 3 cost is broken down into fixed costs (M&S), engineering costs (EDIA) and labor costs. Costs are further broken down in terms of PHENIX construction funds, institutional and foreign contributions, pre-operations funding, and deferred items. Also shown is the contingency at level 3 and the level 4 breakdown of the total cost. The cost profile in fiscal years is shown at level 3. The subsystem summaries are followed by the full cost estimate and schedule sheets for that subsystem. These detailed sheets are typically carried down to level 7 or 8. The cost estimate Total, M&S, EDIA, and Labor breakdowns, as well as contingency, for each WBS entry.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Book begins with this Overview section, which contains the high-level summary cost estimate, the cost profile, and the global construction schedule. The summary cost estimate shows the total US cost and the cost in terms of PHENIX construction funds for building the PHENIX detector. All costs in the WBS book are shown in FY 1993 dollars. Also shown are the institutional and foreign contributions, the level of pre-operations funding, and the cost of deferred items. Pie charts are presented at PHENIX WBS level 1 and 2 that show this information. The PHENIX construction funds are shown broken down to PHENIX WBS level 3 items per fiscal year, and the resulting profile is compared to the RHIC target profile. An accumulated difference of the two profiles is also shown. The PHENIX global construction schedule is presented at the end of the Overview section. Following the Overview are sections for each subsystem. Each subsystem section begins with a summary cost estimate, cost profile, and critical path. The total level 3 cost is broken down into fixed costs (M&S), engineering costs (EDIA) and labor costs. Costs are further broken down in terms of PHENIX construction funds, institutional and foreign contributions, pre-operations funding, and deferred items. Also shown is the contingency at level 3 and the level 4 breakdown of the total cost. The cost profile in fiscal years is shown at level 3. The subsystem summaries are followed by the full cost estimate and schedule sheets for that subsystem. These detailed sheets are typically carried down to level 7 or 8. The cost estimate shows Total, M&S, EDIA, and Labor breakdowns, as well as contingency, for each WBS entry.